Caught Between a Rock
by two-roads-and-a-penny
Summary: One moment. That's all it took. And everything fell apart. One moment, one explosion, one choice. Leonardo would never forgive himself.


A one-shot for a contest on Deviantart that was written in the wee hours of the night to relieve insomnia driven boredom. Yay for not sleeping.

* * *

"Donnie!"

Leo held his brother back, shoving him towards their youngest sibling. "Raph, get Mikey home."

Mikey coughed, holding his head as he tried to slow the spinning of the room. "I'm fine, Donnie needs—"

"You're hurt Mikey."

"But Don—"

"I'll take care of Donnie! Raph, get him home!"

The red-banded turtle glared at his older brother, anger brimming in his eyes to hide his fear. "I ain't leaving—"

Leo suddenly jumped forward to catch Mikey, who had succumbed to the dizziness of the room. His head was still bleeding. A shout from downstairs drew their attention. Leo turned sharply to Raph, handing him their youngest brother with a stern demand in his voice. "Home. _Now_!"

There was no more room for argument.

Snatching up his younger brother, Raph growled his disagreement as he took off, flying up the remaining flights of stairs to the roof.

"Donnie…" Mikey mumbled as he was carried away.

Leo watched them go for a moment before leaping down the stairs to where the explosion had originated. He jumped through the smouldering door, ducking to avoid the smoke as his eyes meticulously scanned the room for his brother. "Donnie!" A pair of glasses lay in the middle of the room, cracked, but still in tact. Leo picked them up, unable to stop the shudder that ran down his spine. "Donatello!"

A twitch in the debris to his right drew his attention. "Donnie?" No sooner had he lifted a large block of cement than a Kraang bot lunged out at him, very nearly taking out his eyes. He quickly evaded, grabbing the bot by the arm and slamming the cement block into it's face. Leo didn't wait to watch it fall, turning to squint through the smoke. "Donnie!"

"Leo!"

The muffled voice came from the other side of the room, followed by several coughs that helped Leo locate his position. A pile of debris near the main entrance shuffled lightly, and Leo caught sight of a wooden bo. "Donatello!" His relief was short lived as he came upon his brother's form, crushed beneath a pile of wreckage, presumably from the ceiling. One cement slab in particular looked as though it was crushing Don's chest. "Can you move?"

"No." He coughed again. "My leg."

Leo followed his brother's eyes to where his right leg was trapped beneath the debris, a thin piece of piping spiking through it. He swallowed hard, forcing his fear to the deepest parts of his mind. No time for panic. "Here. I found these." He placed the glasses on his brother's face, careful to keep his unease from showing.

Don blinked, now able to see clearly and confirm his worry. "Leo, the explosion alerted the police. They've already surrounded the building." He nodded to the monitor on the opposing wall, showing the security feed for the building. "It won't take them long to—" A heavy cough interrupted as Don fought to draw enough oxygen into his body to speak.

"There's a fire on the main floor. They won't be able to get to the stairs yet." Leo turned back to his brother, sizing up the rubble and trying to assess the best way to unbury him. "Can you move your arms?" Don checked a moment then nodded. "Help me lift this piece off you." Leo gripped the slab on his brother's chest, pulling slightly to make sure the shift wouldn't cause more debris to fall. "On three."

"Where are the others?"

"Safe. Raph took Mikey home to get him looked at." Leo threw away several smaller pieces of wreckage from atop the pile to prevent them from falling on his brother when they shifted the larger slab.

"What happened? Is he alright?"

"Concussion. Couldn't clear the explosion in time."

"What!? Was he conscious? Any slurred speech? Naus—"

"Don!" Leo took a moment to cough away the smoke that still surrounded them. "He's safe. Let's focus on getting you out, then you can go be doctor with Mikey, alright?" The younger turtle sighed a raspy breath. "OK. On three. One, two, th—"

Don blinked as his brother was suddenly sent careening across the floor, colliding with the opposite wall with a definitive 'thud'. Looking towards the attacker, Don saw several Kraang bots appear from the same fire exit Leo had entered. Their weapons were held at the ready, scanning the room for further enemies.

"Computer lab secure. Downloading data." One said, walking to one of the larger computer monitors and plugging it's hand into it.

Another bot looked to Leonardo, now splayed out unconscious against the far wall, and cocked it's gun as it moved closer.

Don couldn't stop his panic. "Leave him alone!" He shouted, trying to mask his desperation with anger. Raph would be proud.

The bot turned it's gaze back to Donnie, stepping closer with it's gun lowered. "One of the turtles still remains."

"Turtles?"

"Eliminate it."

"Eliminate turtles."

The bots continued their chatter as the one closest to Don stared at him. Defiant eyes glared up at the bot as it cocked it's gun, aiming between Dons eyes.

"Eliminate turtle."

Sparks flew as the bot's head was suddenly cleaved from it's neck, skidding across the floor as it's body crumpled to the ground. The other bots looked around the room, but were once again caught off-guard as a body slammed into one, sending it smashing into it's partner and skidding across the room in a mess of broken metal and sparks.

Don looked up as his older brother stood protectively between him and the last Kraang bot by the computer. "Leo!"

"More turtles. Eliminate turt—"

Leo's katana pierced through it's head without ceremony, pinning it to the computer screen behind.

Don nodded his approval. "You ever consider competing in the javelin?"

"You sound like Mikey."

As Leo knelt down beside his brother once more, Don finally noticed the blood dripping down his left arm. "How bad?"

Leo didn't even glance at the injury. "It's fine. Can you still lift?"

Don nodded and the two prepared to move the concrete once more. There was no count this time as they both pushed and pulled. Don couldn't help the cry of pain when the slab scraped across his plastron. They'd only managed to slide it so the edge now lay on the floor, still covering Don like a tent, but no longer crushing his chest. The two panted for breath through smoke filled coughing fits, glaring at the concrete weight.

"It's too heavy." Don admitted, grasping to fill his lungs with more oxygen now that they were free. His mind raced, trying to figure another way out. "If you can free my leg, I think I can slide out."

Leo didn't hesitate, moving to lift the rubble piece by piece from Don's leg. The more cement he cleared, the more his frown deepened. Another large slab of concrete—slightly larger than the other—lay across Don's ankle, only stopped from crushing it by several large pieces of rubble around it.

"Leo?"

Slowly drawing in a deep breath, Leo gripped the bottom of the concrete and pulled up. His muscles tensed, quickly crying for relief from their struggle, but Leo persisted. He'd only managed to lift it slightly before his grip faltered, forcing him to lower the slab carefully back in place.

"Leo, your arm!"

The older turtle glanced at his left deltoid, now covered in a steady stream of blood from his ever opening injury. He was pumping so much adrenaline, he barely felt the pain. "It's fine, Don."

"You can't lift with—"

Leo paid him no head. "I need something to leverage the concrete." And as quick as the words left his mouth he pulled Don's bo from the rubble.

The younger turtle knew fighting with his brother was futile, so he started making a mental list of things to check with Leo's arm when they got home.

Finally getting the wood settled and finding the best trajectory to push the slab so it wouldn't crush his brother's foot, Leo pushed, shifting the concrete ever so slightly. It was working! He pressed harder, watching as the slab moved slowly. So slowly. Almost—

A sudden crash stole their attention.

A large portion of the roof to the right of them suddenly collapsed, spurting fire and debris in every direction. Both turtles stared at the heap of wood, cement, and piping beside them, sharing a look of understanding: they had to move faster. As Leo reset the bo in place, Don glanced around, getting a feel of the structural integrity of the remaining roof. The prognosis wasn't good. He gave them maybe ten minutes before the rest of it came crashing—

His eyes landed on something more immediately troubling. "Leo." His brother couldn't hear through his intense focus. "Leo!"

"I'm almost there, Don."

"No, Leo, look!" Don pointed to the security monitor that showed a SWAT team on their way into the building. "They must have got the fire under control."

To his credit, Leo's demeanour didn't change. He remained calm, forcing all panic aside before it had a chance to take hold. But Don knew his brother well enough to see the thinly veiled curse in his eyes.

"I've almost got this." Pushing with the bo once more, Leo grimaced as his muscles protested the strain. They had to hurry. Had to move faster!

Don's gaze flickered between his brother struggling with the rubble, to the monitor showing the SWAT team already flying past floor five; they'd found the fire escape stairs. At their current rate, providing they met no further resistance, they'd be on the thirtieth floor in less than three minutes.

It wasn't enough time.

"Leo," Turning to his brother to try and catch his gaze, Don breathed through another cough. "Leo." But the leader wasn't listening, still attempting to lift the concrete. "Leo, they'll be here soon. There's not enough time to—"

"I've almost got it." Leo grimaced through the pain, forcing his muscles to press on despite their fatigue.

"It's too heavy. You can't lift it on your own." His words were unheeded as his brother tossed the bo aside in frustration, pulling with his own hands in a desperate attempt to prove Don wrong. But Leo knew. If they had more time, Don might be able to figure something out, but now… "Leo. You have to—"

"Don't. Don't even think it."

In most other situations, he wouldn't. There's always a solution, and Don's favourite hobby was inventing something to find it. But there wasn't time. "Leo—"

"I'm not leaving you, Don!"

If he didn't know any better, the tall turtle would swear he heard fear in his brother's voice. "If you stay, they'll catch us both. There's no point—"

"Then they get us both. I'm not leaving."

"What good would come of you staying?"

"I'm won't abandon you—"

"You can't—"

"I've almost—"

A sudden explosion of pain caught Leo off guard, forcing him to drop the cement, nearly crushing his brother's leg. He held his arm and glared when he saw the wound had been torn open at least an inch.

"Leo," Don watched his brother huff an angry breath, glaring at the concrete. "What about the others?" Neither of them wanted this. The world was about to find out about them, and it wasn't likely to be a merciful scenario. But Don was stuck. He was going to be caught, that was fact. And their family would need Leo's help to get through it. "You have to take care of them." The whole thing was making Don shudder in dread; he couldn't think of his brothers, couldn't think about how upset they'd be about this. Couldn't think of how they'd react.

Mikey would cry. He always cries when he gets too worried. And Raph would blame Leo while secretly blaming himself. Leo would keep them together. Thinking straight. They'd need him.

If only there was another way.

But they were out of time.

The SWAT had made it to the twentieth floor and weren't slowing down. If Leo was going to leave undetected, he'd have to go now.

"Leo… Please." Don choked, swallowing back his own fears. "You have to go."

The few seconds of silence that followed felt like an eternity. Leo finally shuffled closer to Don's head, holding the only hand that was clear of the wreckage and gripping it tight. "Don…" Words failed him a moment as he stuffed his emotions as far away as possible. Don wasn't as stoic, unable to stop a tear from plopping to the floor.

Leo felt his heart snap.

Gripping Don's hand close to his chest, Leo lowered himself so their faces nearly touched, his eyes alight with more determination than ever before. "I'll come for you. Wherever they take you, whatever they do, I _will_ come for you. I promise."

Overcome with emotion, Don could only nod, clenching Leo's hand as tight as he could.

Footsteps could be heard only a floor or two down.

Leo held his brother's hand a moment longer, unable and unwilling to let go. Everything in him screamed to stay, to fight, and to fall with his brother, if necessary. But Don was right, out of all of his brothers, Leo was the best strategist. He could find a way to get Don out of whatever prison or lab they forced him into. He would.

He couldn't believe he was doing this.

Giving his brother's hand one more squeeze, the two shared a final desperate glance, silently refusing to say goodbye. It wouldn't be goodbye.

Finally, Leo stood, running for the door and not looking back for fear he'd never leave.

Don watched his brother go, relief swelling in him as Leo made it to the stairs without encountering the SWAT team on his way. But his relief crumbled the minute he saw black boots enter the room.

He'd been caught. Their existence was about to be revealed. He was probably going to end up in a lab somewhere to be studied. Or more likely dissected. No… Don't think about it. Don't show fear. Show strength. Show intelligence. Maybe they'll show mercy.

Maybe.

"Definitely the right floor. Whatever exploded came from here."

"The ceiling doesn't look stable."

"Proceed with caution. Fan out and see if there's anything—"

"What the hell!?"

"What—"

"Sir, you have to see this!"

"What in blue blazes—"

Several pairs of boots stood in Don's field of vision. Black and menacing. He suddenly realized his sight was blurring. The smoke must've been getting to him. He looked up at the men now gawking at him, and squinted past them to the ceiling. It wouldn't hold much longer. "Not… safe…"

"Holy crap! Did it just speak!?"

"Get the fire squad up here to move these blocks off it!"

"Yes, Sir!"

"We're gonna rescue it?!"

"Sir, the ceiling is too unstable. It might not hold up long enough for a rescue."

"It ain't falling on us yet. Get the rescue crews up here to assess and we'll go from there."

"But—"

"That's an order!"

Don wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or terrified that they were going to try and get him out alive. The men went to work, rushing to the other floors to check for more survivors, leaving Don alone with the one they'd called 'Sir', presumably the man in charge.

Taking out a cell phone and removing his helmet, the man strode up to the fallen turtle, nudging his boot against Don's shoulder. "Yeah, Blanque here. The Doc in? … Well go get him." There was a short pause before he spoke again. "Easy Doc, lose the attitude. I got good reason for interrupting. … Christmas came early, Doc." He knelt down in front of Don, a heartless smirk spreading across his face. "And boy do I have a surprise for you."

Don felt his gut twist in sudden fear, his vision clouding ever more. His mind drifted to his family, sending up a silent prayer that they would find him quickly. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to be home, curled in the safety of his Father's arm.

He wished Sensei were here. "Dad…"

His world went dark.

* * *

Honestly, it's not great. The emotion isn't as raw as it should be. But it is what it is, and I'll let my readers decide for themselves.

Comments and critiques would be most helpful. If you find a mistake or would like to suggest a way to make this better, please feel free, it would be greatly appreciated.

 _End of Line_

 _-TRAaP_


End file.
